NYC police make arrest in fatal subway push, photographer speaks

New York City police have arrested a 30-year-old man accused of killing another man by pushing him in front of a subway, according to the Associated Press.

The AP’s story also includes quotes from the photographer who took a picture of the victim trying to climb out of the subway. The photo ran on the front page of the New York Post Tuesday. The photographer, R. Umar Abbasi defended himself, saying he was trying to get the train’s attention with his camera’s flash and said others took pictures of the victim after he was struck by the train.

Naeem Davis, 30, was taken into custody for questioning Tuesday after security video showed a man fitting the suspect’s description working with street vendors near Rockefeller Center. Police said Davis made statements implicating himself in Ki-Suck Han’s death.
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Abbasi told NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday that he was trying to alert the motorman to what was going on by flashing his camera. He said he was shocked that people nearer to the victim didn’t try to help in the 22 seconds before the train struck.

“It took me a second to figure out what was happening … I saw the lights in the distance. My mind was to alert the train,” Abbasi said. “The people who were standing close to him … they could have moved and grabbed him and pulled him up. No one made an effort,” he added.

In a written account Abbasi gave the Post, he said a crowd took videos and snapped photos on their cellphones after Han was pulled, limp, onto the platform. He said he shoved them back as a doctor and another man tried to resuscitate the victim, but it was no use. The man died in front of Abbasi’s eyes.